… Golden Grilled Sardines
Without any forethought I decide to cook a 15 Minute Meal tonight. I get back from work (first day at the new job incidentally) and rush to the supermarket. I rush because I’m cooking fish and I need to get to the supermarket before the fish counter is closed. I have to cook fish because this meal is the only list of ingredients I have to hand, in the form of a photo, of the left hand side of the page from the book, on my phone.
I can get all the ingredients in one shop (Asda once again). Well not quite one shop. Not Asda’s fault but mine. I thought I had peanut butter at home but I didn’t so it was a quick dash out to my nearest (and least favourite) supermarket to buy peanut better and then it was time to cook.
I sort of felt this was a meal that could be cooked in time but at the same time I wasn’t confident. There is quite a lot to do, nothing complicated and nothing that should take long to cook, but quite a bit nonetheless.
I did it in time. More than that I went above and beyond the recipe. This is one of these recipes where the description of the finished recipe does not match the photograph. There aren’t many but there are a few. Following the letter of the recipe, you would take the bread (rubbed with garlic and squished with tomatoes) to the table and the various other bits (mashed beetroot, the chickpea thing, fennel and lemon salad, prosciutto and sardines). The photo shows the four pieces of chiabatta “built” with the various accompaniments. I decide I want to build mine. And I do. And it’s in time. There is even sprigs of fennel tops scattered around (not shown in the book, but shown in the photo).
I do make a pretty terrific mess though. A mess I clear up!
This is really tasty. Well worth a try.
By the way I couldn’t get whole (gutted and scaled) sardines, as the recipe requires. I could only get butterflied sardines. It’s funny that when I needed butterflied sardines the “fishmonger” at the fish counter in that particular supermarket (the aforementioned least favourite one) claimed it was an impossible task.
Who With: Gavin
How Long: Fourteen Minutes and Fifty One Seconds
